Audeze Penrose Gaming Headset Review

Who Is The Audeze Penrose Gaming Headset For?

• The Audeze Penrose gaming headset is perfect for someone who wants to both listen to game audio and another source of audio via Bluetooth
• The Audeze Penrose is one of the best-sounding headsets we have used
• The Penrose is great for both PC/console gaming and video calls

Have you ever had a product that you wanted to love so much, but it just wasn't very good? Spoiler alert, that describes the Audeze Penrose. This gaming headset has it all: a good look, unparalleled audio quality and in-demand features. However, the Penrose has a fatal flaw that is just heartbreaking, and a little ear breaking.

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It's A Mobius Without The 3D

To make a long story short, the Audeze Penrose is more or less the exact same headset as the Audeze Mobius, but without the signature 3D immersive audio effect found with the Mobius. This is in no way a negative, as the Mobius is one of the best headsets I have ever used. If you want to read my review of the Audeze Mobius, which I named the top headset of 2018, check it out here.

While the Penrose and the Mobius look nearly identical, they also sound nearly identical. This is because the Penrose uses the same fantastic four-inch planar magnetic drivers as the Mobius. These provide a great audio mix, with bass, mids and treble coming through strongly. The Penrose is fantastic (when working properly, more on that later) at isolating each sound, giving gamers the edge when it comes to using audio cues. This really helps when playing something like Apex Legends or Warzone, where footsteps and gunshots can help point to enemy locations.

The body of the Penrose is also nearly identical to the Mobius. While the Penrose connects to an Xbox One/Series S/Series X via a USB dongle, a 3.5mm jack can be used with other consoles or devices that still have a headphone jack. This is always a nice inclusion.

The one major difference for the Penrose in terms of build is that it has a different microphone from the Mobius. The Penrose microphone is circular instead of a straight pole shape, and also comes with a pop filter. The microphone is kind of large, especially compared to the Mobius microphone, but it doesn't get in my line of sight or cause a distraction. The microphone can easily be removed as well. We'll talk more about the microphone's performance later.

The Audeze Penrose also seems to clamp down on my head tighter than the Mobius does. That could be because of the wear I've put on my Mobius headset over the years while the Penrose is brand new, but regardless, it's still a little tight. Hopefully the Penrose will loosen with use as well.

Bluetooth Love

I love the fact that the Audeze Penrose can double as a Bluetooth headset, and even better, the Penrose can use its Bluetooth and dongle connections simultaneously. This means gamers can pump in audio from elsewhere while still listening to a game's audio.

This may seem like overkill, but gamers who understand the phrase "podcast game" will definitely appreciate the Penrose's dual inputs. Currently I am playing through Mass Effect 2 via the Legendary Edition remasters. Anyone who has played that game before understands the grind of having to scan planet after planet to gather resources. Doing this while listening to other music or a podcast, or even making a phone call, made that section of the game much more enjoyable.

Massive Connection Issues

While I have been positive about the Audeze Penrose up to this point, unfortunately the tides have to turn. And they are turning hard. The Penrose seems to refuse to maintain its connection to the Xbox dongle. This is the worst connection issue I have encountered in a long time.

It's one thing for the Penrose to start cutting out when I walk into a different room. That would be annoying, but somewhat understandable. However, the Penrose can't maintain a solid connection to its dongle when I'm sitting on my couch directly in front of my Xbox One. I have lost connection when sitting in literally the closest seat I have to my console. Instead, audio will crackle and sputter before completely dying. The headset will inevitably try to reestablish the connection, but it never lasts.

Interestingly, the Bluetooth connection in the Penrose is as good as could be. I haven't had any connection issues when using Bluetooth, and even when the connection to the dongle starts breaking down, the Bluetooth signal keeps coming strong.

Microphone Woes

When going to play a game with a friend using the Audeze Penrose, I hopped into an Xbox party with him and he immediately began to complain about how horribly I sounded. I barely got two words out before he all but refused to keep playing with me unless I switched to a different headset.

That is most likely because of the poor connection between the Penrose and my Xbox, as I also tried the microphone out with a standard phone call. While talking on the phone, the person I was talking to said I sounded incredible, and she couldn't hear any background noise or find any fault with my volume or audio quality. That means the microphone is great, but my connection to my Xbox wasn't.

Final Thoughts

I want to love the Audeze Penrose so much. I want it to be the definitive Xbox headset. It has decent battery life, fantastic audio quality, a pretty darn good microphone and best of all, can also pipe in Bluetooth audio while playing games. On paper, it's everything I want in a headset.

The problem is, the Penrose just doesn't stay connected to the Xbox dongle. Even when sitting mere feet away from my console, the Penrose still drops its connection time and time again. This makes the Penrose absolutely useless for Xbox gamers, and makes playing games while using it downright painful. Hopefully Audeze can fix this issue with firmware updates, but until then it is best to steer clear of the Penrose.